Keisha Lance Bottoms Slated to be Atlanta’s 60th Mayor

Mayor-elect, Keisha Lance Bottoms is slated to be the 60th mayor of the City of Atlanta. Lance-Bottoms was one of 12 declared candidates running for the seat during the often tense election. Independent candidate, Mary Norwood, went head to head with Lance Bottoms in a runoff that resulted in a slight upset for Norwood; Lance-Bottoms pulling through with a less than 800 vote margin.

The election has been nothing short of dramatic, climatic, and tense, to say the least.

With ongoing swipes made on both side throughout its duration and racial undertones to boot, the election was terse as many worried the progress of the city would suffer, specifically increased gentrification and the loss of creative spaces and Atlanta nightlife. As the election got closer, candidates such as Michael Sterling, former director of the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency, suspended their campaigns to back other candidates. Meanwhile Mayor Kasim Reed and mayoral hopeful, Caesar Mitchell traded jabs with Mitchell ultimately backing Norwood with his support; a move many in the Black community viewed with disdain, including Mayor Reed. Lance Bottoms has had a bit of a rocky campaign trail as well, with allegations of cronyism, financial mismanagement, and race baiting. She, however, took it all in stride, with grace and poise and some of the better political speeches of the race.

Color lines drawn in the sand, Lance Bottoms and Norwood faced off to the bitter end. However, Norwood is not going down without a fight. Immediately after the poll results, Norwood requested a recount, citing that absentee ballots from military members overseas and other ballots have yet to be counted. And with such a close race with Lance-Bottoms, it is definitely worth a try and state dictates that if the winning margin is less than 1 percent a recount can be called.

The recount of votes between two-term member of the Atlanta City Council, Keisha Lance Bottoms and member of the Atlanta City Council, Mary Norwood, will be held on Saturday, December 9th.